Virgin and Lotus will compete in 2010: the loser will become a hostess!
In Formula 1, it has long been noticed that the rivalry is not just on the track. The pretext is there, however, and it is the one who finishes ahead of the other who most often emerges victorious. With 13 teams in 2010, rivalries will only multiply, and Lotus F1 and Virgin Racing (formerly Manor […]
In Formula 1, it has long been noticed that the rivalry is not just on the track. The pretext is there, however, and it is the one who finishes ahead of the other who most often emerges victorious. With 13 teams in 2010, rivalries will only multiply, and Lotus F1 and Virgin Racing (formerly Manor GP), two of the three new teams present next season, have proposed a challenge to each other.
The two new teams have one thing in common outside of Formula 1: their boss partly or entirely owns an airline. Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, owns Virgin Atlantic, while Tony Fernandes, head of Lotus F1, is the majority shareholder of Air Asia, a ‘low-cost’ airline.
Ten days ago, Fernandes joked in front of a Reuters reporter, stating « if Lotus is not ahead of Virgin in the F1 World Championship, I would leave and kill myself ».
On December 16th, Richard Branson responded to Fernandes’s challenge by engaging in the duel. He took advantage of the official launch of Virgin Racing to respond in Malaysian to the businessman: « The Virgin Group was primarily born in music, so I think we’ll be the best equipped at the end of 2010 to choose the music for Tony [Fernandes]’s funeral. »
Continuing on the subject, the Briton then offers a real challenge: « I appreciate Tony Fernandes and I hope he wouldn’t go that far. So since we still want to beat Lotus, I will propose something else. He has an airline, we do too. If we beat him at the end of the F1 World Championship, could we hire him as a flight attendant on Virgin Atlantic? »
« We are good sports and will make sure the hostess outfit fits him well. I’m sure he will accept. We have to see what the Air Asia uniforms look like, but I’m ready to take on the challenge! Maybe because I’m confident about the winner’s name… »
Concluding the story, Fernandes responded just before Christmas by implicitly accepting the challenge: « The sexier the better! » In a statement sent to the press, Lotus also provides a photo montage of Branson in an Air Asia flight attendant uniform.
“Doesn’t the outfit look good on him?” he confides to the agency Reuters. “I suppose he’ll make a very good host, but knowing him, we’ll have to keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn’t directly offer himself to the passengers. That might be the real challenge…”
The 2010 season hasn’t even started yet, and the paddocks are already bustling with friendly quarrels… a matter to follow at the end of 2010.
